LANDLORDS are being urged to sign up for a scheme to help young people escape homelessness and fill empty properties around Darlington.

End Youth Homelessness (EYH), which an organisation involving a number of charities including Cenrepoint, has joined forces with Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) to help provide funding to get housing secured for young people through the Rent Deposit Scheme.

Each year, EYH charities provide more than 30,000 homeless young people with the accommodation and support they need.

Laura Rutter, rent deposit scheme manager in the North East, said: “Our scheme helps young people in Darlington who have faced homelessness and are now ready to live independently to gain access to the private rented sector. It provides landlords with a guarantee certificate in place of a traditional cash deposit. This protects the landlord from rent arrears and damage to the property.

“Young people accepted on this scheme are in, or about to enter, education, employment or training.

"Also, they will have demonstrated the ability to save for their own deposit over an agreed period of time, maintain the conditions of their tenancy, respect their neighbours, and work with ourselves to make their tenancy a lasting success.”

As well as funding the scheme, YBS has updated its mortgage terms for landlords to enable them to offer tenancies to renters who receive benefits, such as former homeless young people.

Sasha Pauley, charity partnership manager for YBS, said: “We’re pleased to confirm that landlords with any of our buy-to-let mortgages can offer tenancies to renters who receive state benefits.

“We are committed to providing people with a home of their own, including those who rent a property as well as buying one, because we believe that to build a successful future everyone needs a safe place to call home.”

If you are a landlord interested in helping young people in Darlington who have faced homelessness e-mail L.Rutter@centrepoint.org